Keep on Praying

I’m going to begin this morning by telling you a story that’s not true.

A Fake Story

A four year old is in the store with his mom and spots a certain toy on the shelf. It’s a little robot that walks and talks and does all sorts of things. He’s seen it advertised on TV and wants one.

So he asks his mother to buy it for him. “Please!” Mom says, “no!” The child says “ok” …and mother and child go happily on their way, hand in hand.

See what I mean? It’s a story that’s not true. A four year who has his/her heart set on something is not going to give up that easily. “Please, Mom, Please.”

There is going to be pleading and begging all up and down the isles of that store and out into the parking lot and in the car on the way home. Four year olds know about persistence when it comes to things like that.

Persistence

This past week, I have been thinking about “persistence.” That’s the word that came to mind as I reflected on the gospel reading for today.

I thought about the child who keeps bugging his parents for that special something he has his heart set on.

I thought about the salesman who tried to sell me a car, who would not take no for an answer.

I thought of those situations in which someone is pushy and persistent; the ones who just will not leave you alone.

With such stories in mind, we come to the reading from Genesis of the persistent Jacob who wrestles with supposedly God and will not stop wrestling with God until God blesses him.

And then there is the story from the Gospel about the widow who keeps pestering a certain judge, day and night, with her concern.

Our first thought might be that Jesus is using these stories as a way of telling people to stop bugging him. And certainly he would have had good reason for that. People were always pestering him about something.

But that’s not the message here. In fact, it’s just the opposite. Jesus tells these stories about pesky, pushy, persistent people and says…that’s how I want you to be. Be persistent in prayer. Keep bugging God with whatever is on your heart and mind. Pray without ceasing.

Considering the Stories

Think again of how those two stories we hear today unfold.

In the first one, Jacob is seen wrestling with, “a man” who we are to assume is God all through the night until daybreak. As Jacob is able to persist in his wrestling with the man, the guy seems to cheat a little bit and hits Jacob in his hip to knock his joint out of place.

Even with the dislocated hip, Jacob continued to wrestle with the man.

As daybreak approaches, the man calls out to Jacob to let him go because daybreak is approaching, but Jacob refuses to let him go until he receives a blessing from this person he has been wrestling.

The man then renames Jacob to “Israel” which literally means, “to wrestle with God.” Why? The man says that Jacob has struggled with God and with humans and has persisted. He did not give up, he continued his struggle even when common sense would tell one to stop.

Now, the second parable is like the first. Again, Jesus finds his parables of spiritual truth in everyday circumstances. Before this parable, the Bible says, "We are always to pray and not lose heart."

Jesus then tells this parable. There was a whining widow who persistently found the judge standing on at a busy corner of the main gate to the city, and she persistently whined to the judge to help her in some troublesome legal matter. She kept bugging the judge, night and day, until he finally gave in and agreed to help her.

And Jesus said, "And so it is with us in prayer. We are to cry out to God night and day, with our prayers." In other words, the widow was pushy and persistent, and that is the way our Lord wants us to be in our prayer life.

Our Prayer Life

Many of us, many Christians, have to admit that our prayer life is something less than persistent. When we are honest about it, many of us have to admit that we do not pray as we ought. And there are reasons for that.

For one thing, we are busy. We have places to go and things to do. Research has shown that the average American Christian prays four minutes a day…and that may be stretching it. .

Another reason many don’t pray all that much is because they don’t think it does that much good. There is the thought that prayer is like gazing at the stars. It might be a beautiful thing to do once in while, but it doesn’t change the stars. Some might think of prayer like that. It’s a beautiful thing to do, but it doesn’t change the mind of God. So many don’t pray much, if at all, because they don’t believe it does any good.

Yet another reason many don’t pray much is because they believe a good God should protect them from all the disasters of life; serious illness, car accidents and the like. When such troubles come in spite of their prayers, they begin to wonder if there really is a god who cares. And if you add it all up, some conclude prayer is like star gazing, that it’s ok to do, but doesn't really change anything. You can take it or leave it.

Jesus’ Call to Prayer

Jesus attitude toward prayer was not at all like that. Prayer was tremendously important to him.

He prayed in the morning.

He prayed at noon time.

He prayed to God before he fell asleep, thanking God for the day and asking God to keep him through the night.

He also prayed at meal time, He prayed at ordinary times.

He prayed in the face of trouble and at all the disaster times of life such as

at the temptation by the devil in the wilderness

and in the garden of Gethsemane

and on the cross itself in the midst of all of its pain.

Jesus also prayed at the special occasions like at the wedding at Cana in Galilee.

He prayed for others in their needs.

During good times and bad times and at all times, Jesus was a person of prayer. Seeing how important prayer was to him, his disciples asked him to teach them to pray. And he did.

Jesus wanted his followers to be people of prayer. He wants us to be people of prayer. He wants us to be persistent in it, day in and day out, confident that our prayers are heard and will be answered.

What is Prayer?

Yes, sometimes it seems to take a long time for those answers to come. In those times praying is an act of faith. It is a visible action that demonstrates faith.

Praying puts into action the belief that there is a God. It demonstrates the faith that God is good. Praying is an act of faith that says, "God hears and responds to my needs."

Prayer also proclaims, "God is my hope and I trust in him."

Sometimes God's response is long in coming because the time is not right. And the world tells us, "Oh, no one is up there listening to you. Just give up."

But Christ tells us to not lose heart and to persist in prayer.

But Christ tells us to not lose heart and to persist in prayer.

Christians in Persistent Prayer

Christians have often prayed persistently in the face of trouble. From the earliest years Christians prayed those familiar words, "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done."

And yet year after year the kingdom didn't come, and the world ridiculed the persistent Christians. When ridicule didn't stop the prayers, they tried persecution.

And from the catacombs the Christians cried, "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done."

They did this even though the kingdom was delayed so long.

They persisted even though most people didn't even care what God's will was much less to try to follow God’s will.

Conclusion

I don't know what you have been praying for. It might have been something as big or something small It might have been world peace or peace in your family.

It might have been food for the hungry or the health to eat what you have. It might have been for whole nations to find Christ or for one person to be saved. Whatever it is; keep praying. God hears and God answers. God's word for you today is "Keep on praying and do not lose heart.” Amen.